God's New Year's Gift



What shall the coming year bring forth,
O Lord, who rulest the land?
For the navies of the sea and air
Are but stubble in Thy hand.
The battalions in the field go forth;
They arm in mighty line;
Do they kneel to know Thy holy will?
Have they asked from Thee a sign?
  
The kings invoke Thy holy name,
In their carnage and their strife;
But the purple gift it was Thine to give
Recks not of pity nor life:
For they're drunk with the wine of lustful power,
And seared with the sins of earth;
And their prayers and preachments now mock Thy name,
And make of Thy laws but mirth.
  
January 1, 1916.
  
For Duncan Campbell Scott.
  
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXBACXC DEXEXFDF X X
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 609
Words 123
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 1, 1

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    "God's New Year's Gift" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/56779/god's-new-year's-gift>.

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